Brown Butter Banana Bread Cookies

Brown Butter Banana Bread Cookies are the best of both worlds — banana bread meets cookie! Brown butter makes them even more irresistible!

Winter weekends in the Midwest tend to get a bit monotonous, what with the cold weather, wind and snow making it hard to do much else besides run errands, go to the grocery store, hit up the gym, and repeat.

Granted, I am a cold-weather WUSS, but still.

I’ve always preferred the summer when Ben and I are able to explore the great outdoors, take long walks, and/or camp out at the nearest patio sipping ice-cold brewskies until the sun goes down.

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Well, boring winter weekends be damned. Last night Ben brought the outdoors in, and in the spirit of summer roasted us wieners and s’mores over a crackling campfire. It was amazing! Afterwards we watched Anonymous. Which was…not. Kind of confusing, and the ick factor at the end of the movie was, well, icky.

While there were errands to be run today, I said to heck with it and decided to do something fun like make a hot mess out of my kitchen bake a special treat instead. :)

I’ve been thinking about other pastries that I could turn into cookies since making Blueberry Muffin Top Cookies a few weeks ago, and a quick glance at the brown bananas in my fruit basket quickly showed me the way. I’d make Banana Bread Cookies, of course! Fluffy, moist, cinnamon laced banana bread, in a handheld cookie!

But I wouldn’t stop there though, oh no. I’d go ahead do the damn thing and add brown butter to the batter…and the icing on top. MUWAHAHA!

Brown butter almost tastes like butterscotch, and made my Brown Butter Banana Bread Cookies with Brown Butter Icing OUT OF THIS WORLD delicious. Luckily it’s really simple to make!

Start by placing a stick of butter in a skillet over medium heat.

After the butter melts, start swirling the pan and let the butter “cook” until it turns a golden brown color. You’ll be able to smell a caramel-like scent when it starts to turn. FANTASTIC!

Immediately remove the skillet from the heat, and pour the butter into a large mixing bowl. Time to make some cookies. Mix the butter with some sugar until combined. NOTE: the butter and sugar won’t turn light and fluffy like it does when creaming together room temperature butter and sugar. Instead the sugar will stay kind of granular, which is a-ok. :)

Add an egg to the butter and sugar, and cream until smooth.

Next get yo bananas ready. You’ll need a cup of mashed bananas, which is about 3 small ones. Mash with a potato masher or fork until smooth.

Next, mix the mashed bananas with baking soda, which will help the cookies rise.

Finally, add the bananas and yummy vanilla extract in and mix to combine.

In a bowl next door, combine flour, salt and warm spices like cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in three batches, mixing until just combined between each batch.

Drop the cookies on a baking sheet, and bake for 8-10 minutes, or until beautifully golden brown and fragrant.

While the cookies cool, whisk together more brown butter and powdered sugar to form an icing, then drizzle it over the cooled cookies. Have a few…I won’t tell!

Brown Butter Banana Bread Cookies

Description

Brown Butter Banana Bread Cookies are the best of both worlds — banana bread meets cookie! Brown butter makes them even more irresistible!

Ingredients

Makes 30 cookies

1/2 cup butter

1 cup sugar

1 egg

1 cup mashed bananas (about 3 small bananas)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 cups of flour

pinch of salt

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon cloves

For the icing:

1/4 cup butter

1/2 cup powdered sugar

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat. When the butter is completely melted, swirl the skillet until the butter becomes a light caramel brown color, about 3-4 minutes. Immediately remove the skillet from the heat, and pour into a mixing bowl.

Add the sugar to the brown butter and mix on low speed to start, then increase the speed and beat for one minute. (Mixture will not be light and fluffy.) Add in egg, and mix. Stir together mashed banana with baking soda and let sit for 2 minutes. Add mashed banana and vanilla to the bowl and mix.

In a separate bowl, combine flour, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in three batches, mixing just until combined before adding the next batch.

Drop batter onto a parchment paper lined, or non-stick sprayed, baking sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes, or until cookies are golden brown around the edges. Let cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes, then move to a cooling rack to cool completely.

For the icing: Follow the directions for browning the butter in step 1. Whisk in powdered sugar, and drizzle icing over cooled cookies. Store cookies in an airtight container.

I grew up in Cleveland and surprisingly enough, am trying to move back. I definitely understand the grey, monotony of winter, but know that these cookies would snap me out of it! I love,love,love all that brown butter!

We’ve had an unusually cold winter and I’m a cold weather hater, too! Anything below 70F and I’m miserable. I miss having a fire place! There is nothing cozier than curling up in front of a fire with tea and a good book on a chilly night.

Yummo! I agree — the winters are long and monotonous here in the Midwest — even with the mild winter we’ve had. I noticed the robins are back and some trees are even budding here in Omaha. Maybe spring is coming soon?!

I made these cookies last night! Thanks for sharing! I am an Iowa girl but have lived in Tennessee for 8 years! I heart Iowa! Also, I have completed 3 half marathons and numerous 5k and 10k runs! I am new to your blog but I am loving it!!!! Thank you!

Just tried this recipe and found them very tasty. Can’t wait to try them for my grandson. My icing was a bit thick but I just zapped the bowl in the microwave for 20 seconds. I probably frosted more than drizzled. Thanks for sharing.

Your photos are gorgeous and fun. The color combination used to display those lovely banana yellow cookies is warm and inviting. I would even hang a print of images 251 or 229 in my kitchen as the colors complement stainless steel nicely. By the way, where did you discover that vintage plate?

[…] Banana Bread Cookies. I of course search and read bunches of recipes, but this one caught my eye. Her photos are gorgeous – I did adjust the recipe by not using icing and adding { not sure how many, little man […]

[…] and dreary in Wisconsin ever since yesterday and will continue through tomorrow. But I think these Brown Butter Banana Cookies from Iowa Girl Eats will cheer up any rainy day blues you might have (because I certainly have […]

These cookies are brilliant, but the missing ingredient is chopped walnuts! I added about 1/3 cup to the mix, baking more today will add even more, there’s something about the banana bread texture and nut mix that has great chew.

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hi, i’m kristin!

I'm a Midwestern wife and Mom of two little boys. After being diagnosed with Celiac Disease in 2013, Iowa Girl Eats is a place I share delicious and approachable gluten-free recipes made with everyday, in-season ingredients. Visit my Recipe Index for inspiration!MORE ABOUT ME

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